The business and culture of our digital lives, from the L.A. Times

Video of the fake Apple Store, and customers' fight for a refund

July 22, 2011 | 5:32
pm

We tip our hat to the intrepid American blogger who broke the story this week about an Apple store in Kunming, China, that turned out to be a fake. She has caused a media firestorm and has created a story that continues to spawn new angles. Also, she's gutsy. She went back to the store and took the above video Friday evening.

Earlier today we reported on a Taiwanese computer reenactment of the fake Apple Store news story, but the latest development comes to us from Reuters, which we applaud for having done some firsthand reporting.

Because of all the attention the store has garnered thanks to the American blogger's original story (which has been re-reported by a multitude of news organizations), customers of the fake Apple Store are demanding their money back.

Here are some choice quotes from the Reuters piece:

"When I heard the news I rushed here immediately to get the receipt, I am so upset," a customer surnamed Wang told Reuters, near tears. "With a store this big, it looks so believable who would have thought it was fake?"

And:

"The media is painting us to be a fake store but we don't sell fakes, all our products are real, you can check it yourself," said one employee, who didn't want to give his name.

"There is no Chinese law that says I can't decorate my shop the way I want to decorate it."

Despite all the media attention, Apple has still made no comment about these stores.

In the meantime, the original whistle blower has logged close to 1 million views on her website since posting her story Wednesday. She says the store is still open and is operating as usual. For more of her thoughtful update on this developing story, check out her recent blog post.